Pete Alonso found a way to commemorate 9/11 without the approval of Major League Baseball.

The New York Mets first baseman had wanted his teammates to wear hats honoring the city's first responders during Wednesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After the league rejected the idea, Alonso decided to order patriotic cleats for every member of the team, according to Tim Britton of The Athletic.

"Originally, I wanted to do some hats for us," the 24-year-old said. "I wanted to do custom hats with whatever group of first responders - FDNY or Port Authority, whatever your choice. Unfortunately, there's a lot of red tape with Major League Baseball, and they kind of shot that idea down.

"I think it's kind of sad that since that day, that first game back, they kind of shut it down every single year since. I think that's really unfortunate."

"For me, it comes from a place where I want to show support to not just the victims but the families as well," Alonso said, according to Britton. "No one really knows how deep those emotional scars can be. Living here, just interacting with everybody, I've tried to immerse myself in New York living.

"I see traces of it every single day - little bits and pieces of it. I just want to show recognition to all the people who are heroes - just ordinary people who felt a sense of urgency and an admirable call of duty. This is for all those people who lost their lives and all those people who did so much to help."